Sunday, March 29, 2015

I'm not sure why the Daily News would give up column space on their sports pages for free advertising, but here it is:

"Yes, the Mets are revived. That’s my claim on the cover of my new book 'Baseball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets,' and I stand by it 100%: The Mets are relevant again, they’re exciting — and it’s time to circle Matt Harvey Day on the calendar."

Mmmkay.

"My title and subtitle have been carped about by the words-mean-what-I-think-they-mean crowd. What is a 'maverick'? A 19th Century Texan named Samuel Maverick refused to brand his cattle. Unbranded cattle were then assumed to be ‘mavericks', that is, his."

Wow. Thanks for the history lesson, I guess.

You're attacking the "words-mean-what-I-think-they-mean" crowd and oddly ended one of your sentences with "that is, his." Did your book have a better copy editor? Or are you doing this on purpose? You're pranking the readers?

"He developed a reputation for being smart and independent-minded. That’s the meaning longtime A’s GM Billy Beane, an Alderson protégé, had in mind with the quote that inspired the title."

Yeah, everybody knows the meaning of the word "maverick."

Everybody has seen Top Gun.

"That’s the 'revolutionized' part of the subtitle. Can a reasonable person infer that 'revived' suggests the Mets have already won a World Series on Alderson’s watch? Not by a mile."

Because they haven't won a World Series on Alderson's watch.

"Revive means 'to restore to consciousness or life,' 'to restore from a depressed, inactive, or unused state: bring back,''“to renew in the mind or memory.' (Merriam-Webster)"

Jesus, pal.

We know what "maverick" means and we also know what "revive" means.

You're insulting your audience badly enough ... and then you're using the freaking dictionary as a source.

"Under Alderson’s leadership the Mets have already been revived. But now what? Alderson’s goal is not reaching .500 to shut up loud-mouthed critics, but achieving the critical mass to be a postseason force for years to come.

I join with Tom Verducci and other canny baseball observers in thinking the Mets have an excellent shot at doing that this season. We’ll see soon enough.

Play ball!"

The Mets are going to make the playoffs because they've achieved the critical mass (?) to be a postseason force for years to come.

Alright. That's one person's opinion. Rather, two people's opinion. Because when Tom Verducci talks, people listen.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Alex Rodriguez has never tested positive for a test in the past eleven years, either.

Naturally, I can't prove that Ortiz took steroids. But you can definitely count me among the "some people" described below:

" 'Some people still look at me like I'm a cheater because my name was
on a list of players who got flagged for PEDs in 2003,' he wrote. 'Let
me tell you something about that test. Most guys were taking
over-the-counter supplements then. Most guys are still taking
over-the-counter supplements. If it's legal, ballplayers take it. Why?
Because if you make it to the World Series, you play 180 games. Really
think about that for a second. One-hundred-and-eighty games. Your kids
could be sick, your wife could be yelling at you, your dad could be
dying -- nobody cares. Nobody cares if you have a bone bruise in your
wrist or if you have a pulled groin. You're an entertainer. The people
want to see you hit a 95-mile-an-hour fastball over a damn 37-foot
wall.' "

I agree 100% that the pressure to perform drives pro athletes to use illegal performance enhancing substances.

Your long-winded denial kind of sounds like a confession.

"Ortiz wrote that he may have have taken an
over-the-counter supplement that 'all of a sudden MLB comes out and says
there's some ingredient in GNC pills that have a form of steroid in
them. I don't know anything about it.'

'If you think I'm full of
it, go to your kitchen cabinet right now and read the back of a
supplement bottle and honestly tell me you know what all of that stuff
is,' Ortiz wrote. 'I'm not driving across the border to Mexico buying
some shady pills from a drug dealer. I'm in a strip mall across from the
Dunkin' Donuts, bro.' "

I don't doubt that you bought your banned performance enhancing supplement in a strip mall across from the Dunkin' Donuts.

And I ain't your bro.

And I absolutely know what all of the stuff is that is on the back of a supplement bottle. The day before your company's drug test, don't eat a poppy bagel.

A member of the press who isn't just writing about the Mets. That would be too predictable. He's writing about how much the members of the press are writing about the Mets:

"When it comes to spring training, nothing is set in stone, cast in iron
or written in blood. Or as the late, great Mets Hall-of-Fame voice Bob
Murphy used to say: 'That’s why they put erasers on pencils.'

Situations and circumstances change on a road through the long season.
Yet who would’ve believed, even with the countdown to Opening Day still
on, that the Mets have upstaged the return of Alex Rodriguez AND totally
taken the media buzz away from the Yankees as well."

Who would have believed it?

Me.

Most discussions about the Yankees refer to them in the past tense.

"Right now the Mets are the more compelling TV property headed into the
regular season — by far. Things have been turned upside down. With
expectations raised, the Mets are walking the high wire without a safety
net. That kind of act will have people watching to see if the wire
snaps."

You'd really have to do a better job explaining why the Mets season is like a high wire act ... or why they'd expect the metaphorical wire to snap.

"The Yankees? This is one of those rare times when the All-Knowing ones
don’t know what to expect. Until further notice, the Yankees are
officially bland."

It's official.

Until further notice, that is.

So I guess we'll have to keep checking back with Bob Raissman to see if he notifies us of any changes to the conclusions of his officiation.

"Ultimately, controversy and storylines finish second to consistent
winning. That’s what drives the ratings to higher ground. When the two
elements collide, the ratings go even higher. For the not-so-big secret
here is this: Despite those who actually believe everyone’s fandom is
locked in, there is a large — very large — segment of eyeballs who hang
out in the middle before gravitating toward a winning, compelling team."

If that is the case, then those people don't actually care about the Mets Spring Training. Right? So there's no buzz whatsoever, and the media buzz won't help segments of eyeballs -- very large or otherwise -- who wait until the team is in a playoff race before they bother paying attention.

However, this isn't the case. Fandom is pretty much locked in.

In the New York metro area, more or less, it's 1/3 Mets fans and 2/3 Yankees fans.

The Mets have a long way to go to swing the pendulum significantly after 20 straight years of Yankee success.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

We are holding off Matt Harvey one day so we can get a nice gate for game #2. If you're at the ballpark that day, we'd like to remind you of the multitude of souvenirs you can purchase for your entire extended family.

We sarcastically apologize to the fans who attend the home opener and are forced to endure the indignity of cheering for the Rookie of the Year.

Monday, March 23, 2015

"Scouts are not only down on Carlos Beltran, particularly his chances
of playing an agile right field, but several evaluators following the
Yankees are seriously questioning what Stephen Drew will be able to
contribute.

Drew, who batted .162 last year for Boston and the Yankees, is hitting
.161 this spring, after going 0 for 3 and striking out twice on Sunday.
The Yanks have made clear that Drew is not competing for the second
base job. He will be the Opening Day second baseman. But with the
experts seeing a slow bat and wondering if the 32-year-old Drew is shot,
you wonder if we’ll see Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder before summer."

And when I say "scouts" are worried about Stephen Drew, I mean "anyone with eyes."

Sunday, March 22, 2015

For a man who claims to be disinterested with Alex Rodriguez's washed up career, Mike Lupica sure spends a lot of time writing about Alex Rodriguez.

If you think Lupica would be better served writing a human interest sports story about, say, old men playing stickball in Florida, you'd be very wrong.

Sheesh. That was even worse. Stick with what you know. Tedious, nonsensical ARod metaphors.

Alex Rodriguez is like Lance Armstrong is like Hillary Clinton's email address:

"The reality, of course, for as long as he is around and until his body
breaks down for good, is that the Yankees are stuck with their very own
Lance Armstrong. The difference between him and Armstrong, for now,
anyway, is that he gets to come back to the sport that made him rich and
famous, while Armstrong is now panhandling for redemption with Travis
Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, so he can somehow rebuild his own
sorry brand in triathlon competitions.

They both lied until they ran out of lies, but now we are supposed to
believe everything they say about how pure their hearts are. And anyone
who doesn’t believe, anyone who still finds the scope of the lies they
told and the vindictiveness they both showed to those who refused to
ignore those lies, is accused of moralizing with two men you wouldn’t
trust if they told you water was wet."

Nobody believes anything they say and nobody is supposed to.

When Poor Mike Lupica is accused of moralizing, he's being accused of selective moralizing, which is despicable and unconvincing. You don't hate ARod because he's a cheater and a liar. You just hate ARod.

"Rob Manfred, the 10th commissioner of baseball, had no choice about letting Rodriguez return to Major League Baseball, and to the Yankees. Rodrigiuez had served his suspension, he was eligible to return, that was that. Manfred didn’t have to meet with Rodriguez and did, despite Rodriguez’s war on the game he says he loves so much across 2013, when he blamed everybody except Hillary Clinton’s private email address for being up to his eyeballs in Biogenesis."

Sunday, March 15, 2015

"It wouldn’t really matter to them how it turned out for Matt Harvey, the six hits he gave up before his second strikeout against the last batter he faced. What mattered to them was that they got to see Harvey on this day, a long way from Jersey and a long way from the start of the season. He is that kind of star for the Mets again, that kind of pitcher. There have been only a handful like this, since Seaver."

So you actually attended a Spring Training game in person and, when the Golden Child doesn't dazzle as you expected, you have the gall to say it doesn't matter?

If it doesn't really matter, then why did you make the trip?

"Len Adler, out of Short Hills, N.J., is standing at the corner of the Mets dugout, first base side of Roger Dean Stadium, an hour and a half before Harvey and the Mets would face the Marlins, baseball in one hand, pen in the other. He says he bought tickets to this game a month ago."

You're interviewing Mets fans at a Spring Training game and asking them what they think about Matt Harvey.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say they think Matt Harvey is good.

"Maybe 40 minutes from Port St. Lucie, this was not the kind of spring training day that last Friday was for Matt Harvey, when he pitched in a game for the first time since August of 2013. You know what kind of moment that was for him, for his team, for Mets fans, even in just two innings, even in the first week of March. He struck out three and got two comebackers and hit 99 on the radar gun and even threw a 3-2 curveball that seemed to start up in Short Hills before breaking all the way down here."

It doesn't really matter that he threw a 3-2 curveball and hit 99 MPH on the gun.

"He is back. His arm is strong. When he is at his best this season, he will return to being the biggest baseball star in New York, the way he was before he tore that ligament in his elbow and before Tommy John surgery. In his absence, Masahiro Tanaka became New York’s pitching sensation last season, before the minor tear in his pitching elbow, as if there is such a thing as a minor tear in a pitcher’s elbow."

Lupica said Harvey was the biggest baseball star in NY before he got injured. That is not correct. Derek Jeter was the biggest baseball star in New York at that time.

It's quite likely that Lupica wasn't counting Jeter ... that Lupica didn't mean it that way ... but Lupica wrote it unambiguously.

You'll never guess what Matt Harvey's career record is.

Go ahead and guess.

It's 12-10.

With a lot of strikeouts (10 per 9 innings), very few HRs for a power pitcher, and fantastic control. The sky is the limit. Young, inexpensive starting pitchers are the most valuable asset in baseball.

Still, it's a long way to go before the silly comparisons to Tom Seaver mean anything.

"Tanaka says he can keep pitching without the surgery. We will see about that. Tanaka’s spring training starts, on the other side of Florida, will be a different kind of event than Harvey’s over on the East Coast. The Yankees will hold their breath every time he throws his split-fingered fastball, and with the big stuff he showed before he got hurt. Harvey has already returned to the business of being the kind of pitcher who can take your breath away with his own stuff."

Lupica's anti-Yankee bias is so strong, that he actually roots for Yankee players to get injured. Ellsbury last year and now Tanaka.

It's beyond "I told ya so" score keeping ... I truly think Lupica despises the Yankees so much, that he simply can't separate the uniform from the human being who is wearing it.

After reading Lupica's breathless article, now I'm suddenly curious if Pineda can hit 99 on the gun. If Betances can hit 99 on the gun. If so, I need to know what some random dude from NJ thinks about it. It's compelling Spring Training baseball analysis.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

"In 2010, the New York Mets were in trouble. One of baseball’s most valuable franchises, they had recently suffered an embarrassing September collapse and two bitter losing seasons. Their GM had made costly mistakes. And their principle owners were embroiled in the largest financial scam in American history.

To whom did they turn? Sandy Alderson, a former marine who served in Vietnam and graduated from Harvard Law. In 1981, Alderson started in baseball with Oakland, where he led a revolution in the sport. The A's partnered with Apple, pioneered using statistical analysis, and became a powerhouse, winning the 1989 World Series. When new owners slashed payroll in the 1990s, Alderson's under-the-radar creativity and intelligent management were thrust into the spotlight.

Granted unprecedented access to a working GM over several seasons, bestselling author Steve Kettmann traces Alderson’s history and his renewal of the Mets despite a limited budget, through big trades that brought back high-profile prospects to the development of young aces including Matt Harvey, Zach [sic] Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom. Now, the turnaround is almost complete. Baseball Maverick is a gripping, behind-the-scenes look at a Major League team and a fascinating exploration of what it means to be smart."

It certainly sounds gripping.

It sounds like a baseball GM made some trades for high-profile free agents while developing young players including Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom.

Friday, March 13, 2015

I understand that the Yankees' grooming rules are somewhat outdated -- they were outdated 40 years ago -- but shaving every three days is not really much of a burden:

" 'This is nice, not to have to shave every three days,' Robertson recently said from spring training in Arizona, according to ESPN.com. 'I think it’s kind of ridiculous, but that was the Yankees’ rule. They wanted to have you clean-shaven. Here you can just let it grow. Obviously, they don’t want me to get it to that point. But I won’t let it get out of control.' "

Monday, March 09, 2015

"The early but clear A-Rod lesson this spring is that if he can play, he
will not be a pariah. Not among colleagues, and not to much of the
public. As demonstrated by teammates indifferent to scandal, and fans
willing to be dazzled by the pretty white sphere sailing across a
diamond, this story will fade, if the man has any decent baseball left
in him."

Do I detect sarcasm regarding the pretty white sphere sailing across a diamond?

Maybe I'm misinterpreting.

If you're being sarcastic, let me remind you that writing about the pretty white sphere is your job.

"This baseball world is a cynical place, and everyone has his or her
agenda. Fans just want to see their team win. Load up the entire roster
with steroids; as long as they are careful enough to avoid detection,
and win the World Series, all is good. And believe me, many front office
folks feel the same -- go ahead and cheat, if it helps us."

When you say "his or her" agenda, I can't think of a single prominent "her" that you would be talking about.

Brian Cashman knew which free agents were talking steroids -- his cost-benefit analysis included the likelihood they'd get caught. Joe Torre knew half the players on his Championship teams were on steroids. Bud Selig knew half the players in his league were on steroids.

I believe you, Andy Martino, when you suggest that front office folks in professional sports are OK with cheating.

If ARod could still hit 50 HRs, the Yankees would have fought his suspension. Because he can't still hit 50 HRs, they wanted their money back.

"As for players? Most would rather win than lose, but money is the
primary source of pride and motivation. A-Rod has made more of it than
anyone, which makes him a bigger winner than a scrub with three World
Series rings, and a few million in the bank."

Correct.

"Just this spring, I was talking to an ex-teammate of Phillies pitcher
Cliff Lee, and mentioned that I felt bad for Lee because of his elbow
issues and situation being trapped on a bad team.

The guy cut me off.

'He’s fine,' he said, meaning that Cliff got paid, so Cliff wins."

A multi-millionaire free agent baseball pitcher is fine.

He even went back to the Phillies on purpose.

"What does all this have to do with A-Rod?"

Not a heck of a lot.

Your newspaper is so obsessed with ARod, that everything has something to do with ARod.

But you go ahead and finish your spiritual epiphany. Just now, pro athletes became cynical and selfish. Just now, pro athletes started cheating. Just now, pro athletes put their own mercenary goals ahead of team and community and puppy dogs.

"It underscores the cynicism and selfishness everywhere in the game. In
that environment, few are going to spend more energy generating outrage.
They have their own cold calculations to worry about.

But if A-Rod strikes out on Opening Day, with the bases loaded in the
eighth and the Yankees down one? Then, moral judgements will be swift,
and will sound like this: BOOOOOOOOOO."

I think you should say amoral judgments will be swift. This isn't Church. It's kind of the point of sports. It's so easy.

The other day, while waiting in line at Dunkin' Donuts, the guy in front of me ordered three chocolate chip cookies. I noticed the worker reached into the cabinet and grabbed three oatmeal raisin cookies.

Quick: What should I do? Should I interfere and correct the mistake?

That decision is way more complex than rooting for ARod.

When you drive to work every day and approach a red light on a two-way highway. Do you get behind the car in the left lane or do you pull up into the right lane? Where you might block someone who is trying to turn right on red?

But what if the driver in the left lane is one of those filthy apes who waits until the light turns green before turning on the left turn signal?

I mean, you're going to get punished for doing the right thing ... you know this, correct?

You're going to pull into the left lane and then get passed by 12 cars because of the jerk-o driver whose turn signal is apparently too confusing to utilize while the car is idling.

Thanks, jerk.

Man, what a day. Now it's time to chill and root for my team.

The count is 3-2 on Garrett Jones and it's a tie game.

Prithee, whate'er shall I do?

Before I decide who I'm rooting for, let me peruse Garrett Jones's high school transcript, voting record, political opinions, medical history, civil and criminal record, his relationship with reporters, his commitment to the community, his leadership abilities, the names of his kids, his Instagram account, his bank account ...

Sunday, March 08, 2015

"Nobody is more overjoyed at this development than Francisco Cervelli,
the ex-Yankee, who for the first time in his much-interrupted career,
has come into camp anointed as the No. 1 catcher. That is not to say
Cervelli doesn’t have a challenge in front of him — he’s being asked to
replace Russell Martin, whom he once backed up with the Yankees, and
will spend the spring working with a whole new pitching staff on a team
that expects to take that next step and advance further into October."

"Much-interrupted career" is an interesting way to describe "PED suspension."

" 'In Cervelli, we saw a catcher with an upside defensive ability, a good
receiver who blocks the plate well and has a lot of energy,' said
Huntington. 'His challenge will be to gain the trust of his pitchers and
hopefully get some breaks for a change.'

" 'He’s a hungry learner,' Hurdle added of Cervelli. 'We know he’s a good
catcher and he’s working hard on getting to know our pitchers, and he
can swing the bat. This is the third time we’ve tapped the Yankee well
for a catcher (Martin in 2013, and Chris Stewart last year) and the
first two were successful. Our job is just to keep him healthy.' ”

I meant to say he's a cheater, a liar, a known associate of a felon drug dealer, obstructer of justice, and, as far as we know, unable to play in the major leagues without the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs.

"Ah, injuries. It’s hard to find anyone in the majors who’s lost more
time — and more opportunities — to injuries than Cervelli, who suffered a
broken forearm in spring training in 2008, broke his foot in 2011,
broke his right hand in April of 2013 after earning the Yankees’
starting catching job, and missed much of last season with a hamstring
injury and a concussion. For good measure, there was the 50-game
suspension in 2013 for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal."

For good measure?

That's all you've got for Cervelli?

All right. That's cool with me.

The next time you feel the urge to slag on ARod, just be sure to climb down from that high horse before you do, because you've made it impossible for anyone to take you seriously.

"This wasn’t about Alex Rodriguez, who threw it all away, who is the past in baseball whether he drags himself through another season — or two, or three — or not."

Matt Harvey pitching 2 innings in Spring Training?

It sure wasn't about ARod.

Only a fool would link the two things.

"This wasn’t about a single to left from Rodriguez the other day in his first spring training game, or about how many cheers he got as opposed to boos, or these apologies of his, which are about nothing and mean nothing."

Nobody said it was.

"This wasn’t about a single to left from Rodriguez the other day in his first spring training game, or about how many cheers he got as opposed to boos, or these apologies of his, which are about nothing and mean nothing."

Matt Harvey's Spring Training pitches also wasn't about cinnamon raisin bread, so here is a recipe.

By the way, is there some huge pro-ARod apology camp?

Are there people who think the apology meant something?

There are a lot of Yankee fans who will gladly embrace him if he's productive. Which is why they cheered a single. Get ready for them to boo pop ups, strike outs, GIDPs, fielding errors ... if that will satisfy you.

But I haven't heard anyone who thought the latest apology was meaningful.

"That is Matt Harvey. He pitched again for the Mets on Friday afternoon, for the first time since August of 2013, and just the two innings and 25 pitches he threw were so much better and more exciting than anything Rodriguez will do all spring."

Well, it's 25 pitches and 2 innings in Spring Training.

Will that be more exciting than anything ARod does this spring?

I'd say yes, that is probably true.

I know there's not much else to write about at this time, but it's like asking if Police Academy 5 was better than Police Academy 6.

"You put that kind of arm against Rodriguez’s first tired swings of what might turn out to be his last baseball spring, and you know there is nothing to discuss, other than the present and the future trumping the past in sports, the way they always have."

Please.

I beg you.

There is nothing to discuss, just like you said.

Stop obsessing about Alex Rodriguez.

"He went away because he got hurt. Rodriguez? You know why he went away. He was Matt Harvey once, just with a bat in his hands and making plays at shortstop. Now he is just hanging on. He is a bit player who used to be somebody. A sideshow. Matt Harvey is the show."

Anything less than a Cy Young Award and a World Series title would be a disappointment.

Two more references to Alex Rodriguez and we're finished for today's article.

That's not bad for an addict.

Only three references to ARod, the washed-up player you totally care nothing about. Don't care about ARod at all.

Say, did ARod say anything about me the last time you spoke with him? Not that I even care.

"Jeter was named captain in 2003, eight years after Mattingly retired, and he held the title until his retirement at the end of last season. Among the current Yankees who could be considered possible successors to Jeter are Brian McCann, Mark Teixeira, Chase Headley, Brett Gardner and ..."

Wait for it ...

Alex Rodriguez."

I'm here all week, two shows per day. The evening show is not the same as the morning show. Tell your friend and, please, tip your waitresses. Good night, folks!

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

I even heard a comment that Terry Collins had experienced the best baserunning drill in his career:

"For David Wright it was the perfect opportunity to set a tone for what the Mets believe is the start of a new era. That is, if they’re going to talk about winning they better start acting like winners.

Not that what Noah Syndergaard did on Tuesday was some baseball felony.

But he should have known that, especially when you’re a 22-year-old prospect with no status among the veterans on the ballclub, you don’t sit down at a table in the clubhouse for a bite of lunch while most everyone else is on the field or in the dugout for an intrasquad game.

Wright had come into the clubhouse between innings of the game, and as the Daily News’ Kristie Ackert reported, scolded Syndergaard and told him to get his butt out into the dugout with his teammates."

What was Wright doing in the clubhouse between innings of the game?

Maybe he could have used that time for Leadery Winnershippy Leaderhip.

I don't doubt the Mets are headed for better times. I'm not sure about the playoffs, but it doesn't take too much to make the playoffs nowadays.

What I know for sure is that is this was a team on the decline? This same action would be seen as discontent in the clubhouse and a sure sign of a tough season ahead.